This week...
Thr., Nov. 30, 7 p.m. -- WOMEN'S BASKETBALL at SEATTLE UNIVERSITY, Connolly Center, Seattle, Wa.
Sat., Dec. 2, 6 p.m. PST -- WOMEN'S BASKETBALL at NORTHWEST NAZARENE, Montgomery Arena, Nampa, Id.

Complete 2000 Schedule

On the road again...
Back to the grind following a weekend of feasting on Thanksgiving turkey and mashed potatoes, the Seattle Pacific University women's basketball team begins a stretch of three consecutive road games by staying in town. The Falcons (3-0) commence Pacific West Conference play with a crosstown clash at Seattle University (0-1) Thursday night (Nov. 30) before heading to Idaho to face Northwest Nazarene (2-0) Saturday night (Dec. 2). They visit Western Washington Dec. 9 before coming home to host the Vikings Dec. 16.

PacWest favorites...
The Falcons have been picked to finish at the top of the PacWest in 2001 and will play each conference team twice--22 games in all. Seattle University and Northwest Nazarene are new to the league this season and will join SPU in a new conference next season. Seattle Pacific is bidding to bring the PacWest title back to Brougham for the first time in three years. It won the championship outright in 1997 and shared it with Montana State Billings in '98. In the preseason coaches poll, the Falcons took 10 first-place votes. Central Washington and Western Washington, picked second and third, earned one apiece.

It happened last week...
For the first time in three years Coach Gordy Presnell (14th year) has the Falcons unbeaten after three games. Before the holiday break they downed Southern Colorado 88-63 in the home opener. But at the outset few would have guessed the blowout would be in their favor. The Thunderwolves jumped out to a 14-2 lead as SPU went scoreless for nearly 10 minutes. The Falcons regrouped and rallied to take the lead by halftime. Each of the three wins this season have been by a margin of more than 23 points.

Movin' up the charts...
If not for that early dry spell vs. Southern Colorado, Seattle Pacific might have topped 100 points for the third game in a row. As it is, the Falcons are averaging 96.3 points per game. Just as consistent in finding the hoop has been forward Gus Balogh (Sr., 5-11, Szombathely, Hungary), who has 20 or more points in each game. In last week's game Balogh canned 10-21 shots and finished with 21 points and seven rebounds. Along the way she surpassed Shannon Holland (1979-81) for No. 7 on the career scoring list. Balogh, who is averaging 21.3, needs another 214 points to move into the No. 6 spot held by Tosca Lindberg (1990-93).

Frontline force...
All together, the starting frontline accounted for 53 points and 23 rebounds versus Southern Colorado. Forward Kristen Poe (So., 5-9, Enumclaw, Wa.) turned in another solid effort, scoring 18 points--including 8-8 free throws--and pulling down seven rebounds. Poe is averaging 17.3 points and 11.7 boards. Valerie Gustafson (Fr., 6-0, Olympia, Wa./Black Hills), making her first start at center in place of the injured Jana Holme (Sr., 6-1, Tacoma, Wa./Wilson), scored 14 points and hauled down nine rebounds.

Injuries old & new...
After being out for nearly a month with a knee sprain, Liz Guppy (Jr., 6-3, Beaverton, Or./Westview) returned to action last week and wasted little time on the court before making her presence known. With the Falcons down 14-2, Guppy checked in and responded with six points in her first 150 seconds and ignited a 17-2 run which put the Falcons in front to stay. It was a good thing Guppy got the clean bill of health because Holme had suffered a foot injury earlier in practice and played just one minute. Back-up guard Kirsten Daniel (Sr., 5-8, Florence, Or./Siuslaw) is also questionable this week. Daniel sprained her ankle on the opening weekend. Expected to make her season debut this week is guard Brianne Prescott (Jr., 5-7, San Jose, Ca./Mitty-San Jose CC), who been out of commission due to an ankle sprain suffered during practice earlier this month. Prescott hit 180 three-pointers as a sophomore at San Jose City College.

Smokin' at the foul line...
The Falcons hit 23 consecutive free throws and finished 23-24 at the line vs. SCU to set an new school record for single game accuracy (.958). The previous record for a game with more than 10 attempts was .917 (11-12), achieved twice before. Through the first three games the team is hitting 81 percent (68-84). From the field the Falcons are connecting at a .468 clip, including 33 percent (17-52) from outside the three-point arc.

Put-backs...
Starting point guard Kerie Hughes (So., 5-6, Mount Vernon, Wa./Mr. Vernon) tallied eight assists vs. Southern Colorado and finished with three steals. As a team, SPU forced 37 Thunderwolves turnovers, 14 as a result of steals...Stephanie Urrutia (So., 5-9, Sunnyside, Wa.), Stacie Lukkes (So., 6-0, Kent, Wa./Kentwood) and Hughes all tallied nine points. Lukkes shot 4-5 from the paint in just 11 minutes of play. Urrutia also had three steals and blocked one shot. Hughes connected on her only three-point attempt...Coming off her career-high 23 points vs. Pacific, Becka Beard (So., 5-4, Bremerton, Wa./King's West) scored two points vs. Southern Colorado...Ann Berberian (Fr., 5-7, (Seattle, Wa./Blanchet) picked up a career-high three assists in just four minutes of play against the Thunderwolves...

Opponent, series notes...
SPU won both meetings Seattle University last season, and has taken six of the last seven meetings overall. The Redhawks, whose last win vs. the Falcons came in '95-96, still lead the series, 23-17ŠThe Falcons are unbeaten in four previous games versus Northwest Nazarene, Presnell's alma mater. The two teams have not met since the '98-99 season.

PacWest Conference Standings

Personnel notes...
No Player Yr-Exp Hgt '00 -01 stats Hometown Notes
10 Ann Berberian Fr-HS 5-7 1.0/1.7 ast Seattle, Wa. All-Metro League at Blanchet
12 Becka Beard So-1V 5-4 9.3/1.3ast Bremerton, Wa. 23 points, 8-8 FGs v Pacific
20 Kerie Hughes* So-1V 5-6 9.0/5.7 ast Mount Vernon, Wa. 17 points at Portland
22 Kirsten Daniel Sr-2V 5-7 1.9/0.9 reb Florence, Or. 7 points v Northwest College
23 Brianne Prescott* Jr-TR 5-7 DNP San Jose, Ca. All-America, 140 3-ptrs at San Jose CC
24 Stephanie Urrutia So-1V 5-9 11.0/5.7 reb Sunnyside, Wa. 14 points, 5 assists v Northwest Coll.
30 Stacie Lukkes So-1V 6-0 7.0/3.7 reb Kent, Wa. 6 points, 6 rebounds v Pacific
31 Kristin Poe So-1V 5-8 17.7/11.7 reb Enumclaw, Wa. 23 points, 16 reb. v Northwest
32 Jana Holme* Sr-3V 6-1 5.3/4.0 reb Tacoma, Wa. 11 points, 7 rebounds v Pacific
33 Gus Balogh* Sr-3V 5-11 21.3/4.3 ast Szombathely, Hungary 20-plus points in first 3 games
40 Liz Guppy* Sr-3V 6-3 6.0/4.0 Beaverton, Or. Returned to action v S. Colorado
42 Valerie Gustafson Fr-HS 6-0 10.6/6.0 reb Olympia, Wa. 14 points, 9 rebounds v S. Colorado
*projected starters
Coach: Gordy Presnell (Northwest Nazarene '83) 14th year (264-111) PacWest coach of the year in '97 & '98